An Appreciation for Black History, Culture, and People

I understand that this site focuses on the fun, historical, and obscure, but I want to clarify that I believe that black lives matter and that police brutality is not acceptable. Though, my words may appear to be clinging onto the cause, which in return has been portrayed as a passing social media trend, despite BLM existing since about 2013, I do believe in racial justice and equality. Growing up, I was made aware of my own differences and I tried to learn all I could about other people, places, and cultures. I am appreciative and inspired by black culture and music. I made a video about a year or two ago about why black history matters. However, this is not about me. It's about an issue that I cannot stay silent on any platform about injustice. It's been suggested that an injustice anywhere constitutes an injustice everywhere and I firmly believe that.

I do wish that this enacts change for the better and that hopefully race relations will heal. I do not tolerate bigotry or abuse and will not allow it on this platform.

A WORD ABOUT HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND LEGITIMACY

On a similar note, I have maintained that historical examples of bigotry, intolerance, and stereotyping should be taught with the proper historical context. However, while society's prejudices have been seen as the norm of the era, it should be recognized that there was always a person or a group that opposed something that society condoned. It doesn't make it morally right, but historical context helps explain why certain things were seen as acceptable. At any rate, the thing that matters is that we don't excuse the atrocities, genocides, tragedies, and incidents of the past and we look towards solving the issues that affect our present and even future. In short, learning about the US Civil War requires an understanding of the various events pertinent to the issues of sectionalism and slavery. With this in mind, it is equally important to check the sources. I would be more inclined to read primary sources and accredited historical publications than a recruitment page for a neo-Confederate group. Revisionism is one of the mortal enemies of true historical inquiry. By that, I refer to the omission or denial of actual history as well as the fabrication, which is also a tricky notion. Basically, as a historian, you have a few duties. One is to be truthful and unrelenting in your search of the truth. Another would be to understand the context of everything pertaining to the truth, or at least the aspect of the truth you're investigating. The last one would be to tell the story as a record of the past.

I will be posting more often on this. I do have a number of posts that I worked on, but at this point, I am taking a small break due to the relevance of the aforementioned message that black people, culture, and history matters and I will never stray from that.

With that being said, I urge the study of black history and the belief that black lives matter.